Gabriel and Jeffrey Kahane intriguing, perplexing, at SummerFest

What about the audience’s response? Many of the SummerFest regulars apparently responded before the concert by not showing up, judging from the empty seats (the previous three SummerFest concerts have been near capacity). It seemed as if the concert was unable to attract the younger audience that might have better related to Gabriel Kahane’s appealing music and left those who did show up indifferent, based on the mild applause afforded the Kahanes and the cheers and immediate standing ovation that greeted the Tokyo String Quartet’s reading of the G Major Schubert Quartet.

The Tokyo String Quartet (which performs an entire program Sunday) uncharacteristically played with more muscle than finesse, but there were no questions about what kind of music this was.